Uganda Pride Canceled Following Threat from Government Minister and Vicious Police Raid

Advocates say Ethics Minister Simon Lokodo threatened to mobilize a mob to disrupt the pride march that was scheduled for Saturday. Pride gatherings in previous years had been held without incident.

A brutal police raid on a pride event on Thursday saw the arrest of scores of participants and attendees at the club Venom in the capital, Kampala. Several well known activists, including Frank Mugisha and Pepe Onziema, were arrested. They were all eventually released.

“It is deeply disturbing that Uganda’s Pride celebration had to be canceled after threats from public officials,” said Ty Cobb, Director, HRC Global. ”We stand in solidarity with the Ugandan LGBTQ community as they continue their work to make Uganda a country that is welcoming to all.”

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, in office since 1986, signed the country’s infamous Anti-Homosexuality Bill in February 2014. Though the Constitutional Court subsequently invalidated it in August that year, the law created a violent backlash against the LGBTQ community that persists to this day.